Nothing Gold Can Stay
by SilverLining11
Summary: It has been five years since the fall of Voldemort, wizards have moved on with their lives but they are still scared. Thanks to rumors of Montague and a new spell no one has ever seen. The Ministry is trying to stop Montague but how do you catch a rumor?
1. Prologue  Rumors

**Nothing Gold Can Stay**

Prologue: Rumors

It had been five year since The Battle of Hogwarts and life in the wizarding world had returned to normal, well almost.

Many had lost loved ones, many lost restful nights to nightmares, lost their childhood and lost money as they continued to rebuild. Many lost time still chasing death eaters, mainly aurors.

Once thing that was not lost was fear, hidden by most, but still present. And that was thanks to Montague, he was the new number one undesirable and he wanted to be the new Voldemort. No, he wanted to be better then Voldemort.

Montague had been at Hogwarts when Harry was a student, he was a Slytherin and was two years ahead of Harry. Once he had graduated from Hogwarts he had dived head first into the life of a death eater, not a big surprise, but what was a surprise is he had basically replaced Lucius Malfoy. Lucius had been Voldemort's right hand man for years, but once he learned of Draco's assignment to assassinate Dumbledore the stress of having a child in danger evidently had become too much for him. He had attempted to protect Draco as much as possible, even sending information to Aurors to stop planned death eater attacks. As a result he lost all his credibility with Voldemort and the death eaters, this allowed young Montague to slide into power.

Montague's use of power made Lucius a distant memory, he was vicious, unforgiving and many compared him to Bellatrix Lestrange. Most said you couldn't compare him, because he was worse then she ever was. No one survived Montague's wrath and he followed Voldemort's orders with passion, and he did not try to hide it as Lucius did. At the fall of Voldemort, Montague had vanished and no clue of him has ever been found. Many Auror's thought he had died in the battle, perhaps turned to dust by an incendio spell.

This was the belief a month ago, now rumors of Montague were out in the open causing wide spread panic across Europe and the entire wizarding world. It was like living in Voldemort's reign of terror again, some even believed it was worse. Montague known to be unforgiving and bloodthirsty, those that survived were because he needed something from them. Anyone else was simply killed, according to rumors. As a result Montague has a tight group of followers, not a large group of death eaters like Voldemort, each follower contributed something necessary for Montague and work to continue being necessary to him. Once Montague deemed them unnecessary he killed them, again, according to rumors. This caused former death eaters to fear him and stay clear out of his way. It was either be necessary, stay out of his grasps or run if you wanted to survive, according to rumors.

It wasn't a surprise that another threat came along, life is all about-facing challenges. What people were surprised about was how Montague was getting away with it. After Voldemort any literature on how to create horocruxs was locked deep within Gringotts. Any other literature about becoming immortal or gaining extra amounts of power was also sealed within Gringotts. Only a few had access to the vaults and for one to open the vault called for all members to be present and a vote from the Wizengamot court . In other words, impossible.

It was impossible for Montague to avoid death like Voldemort did. So why had he not be killed? What allowed him to continue apparently untouchable? Something had to have been helping him, but no one could figure it out. The main problem was most of the information the Ministry had on Montague was based on rumors, arrested death eaters and dead ones. He hadn't done anything yet, well besides killing death eaters, no really minded that, but what is he going to do next?

How do you chase a rumor?


	2. Chapter 1  Homecoming

Chapter 1: Homecoming

She stood looking up at the new and improved Burrow, it had been four years since she had been back. During that time her father had received promotion after promotion in the Ministry and now was the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department. As a result her family had been able to update the Burrow.

Her family had enjoyed other successes in the past four years: Bill also received promotions as a cruse breaker, he and Fleur were living happily in Paris with their two children. Charlie had returned to his dragons after helping round up death eaters for two years in England, rumor had it he has fallen in love with a girl in Romania.

Percy was married to Penelope, they unexpectedly eloped much to the surprise of everyone (Although their are thoughts he did this to avoid teasing and taunting from his brothers). He and Penelope both worked in the Ministry, Percy was part of the Wizengamot court and Penelope worked in the Department of Improper Use of Magic.

George and his wife Angelina were enjoying raising their son Fred and running the joke shop, they have also expanded and set up a store in Hogsmeade and Paris (that Bill checks on). George was never really the same after Fred was killed in the Battle at Hogwarts, he had the same sense of humor and fierce loyalty but he seemed to have aged.

Ron and Hermione were happily married, Ron spent three years as an Auror but was now a scout for the Cannons, his favorite Qudditch team (they were actually winning know, thanks to Ron). Hermione worked at a high level position in the Ministry and loved being a mom to Hugo and Rose, their two children.

Then there was Ginny. Ginny stayed after the Battle at Hogwarts for a few months. She helped with the rebuilding of the school and gave testimony after testimony about the role she played for the last few years, including what happened in the chamber. She had a very difficult time accepting the lost of Fred, the change in George and all the other friends she lost. Mostly she felt she lost Harry.

Before Harry left on his mission with her brother and Hermione he had ended their relationship, saying it was for her own safety. Ginny trying to be strong said she understood but really she was heartbroken. He didn't love her, and it was very clear that nothing would ever start, restart or grow for them. So after the battle ended and she completed her role in the recovery, Ginny left. She traveled to America to continue her studies and enrolled as a graduate student in Charms and Spell Development.

For four years she studied and did not return home to visit. Not visiting wasn't her intention but her heavy school and work schedule made it impossible to go home, even for Christmas. She sent owls, spoke to her family through the fire and got her family to visit her as much as possible. She was even polite and sent Owls to Harry, but he was apparently bust.

After the fall of Voldemort, Harry became a full time Auror and had stayed in the career to help arrest the remaining death eaters. He was a high-ranking Auror and led many missions that were splashed all over the papers as huge successes, he was still their hero. The papers also speculated that their were only two remaining death eaters at large: Avery and Travers. It was rumored that after Harry captured the remaining two he would retire.

Fate is fickle, conveniently the day Ginny returned home, Harry announced the capture of Avery and Travers.

"Ginny!" Molly screamed running down the stairs to embrace her daughter, "Welcome home Ginny dear, I have missed you so much. You are not allowed to leave anymore!"

Ginny smiled, allowing her self to be buried in her mother's warmth and smell, "I've missed you too mum, I promise not to go anywhere anytime soon."

"Come in, come in, I was just finishing dinner, you are far to thin and tired, have you been taking care of yourself.." Molly rambled on, _she was thin a bit, too thin for Molly's opinion, we'll fix that_ she thought as she helped her daughter levitate her belongings into the house.

Ginny walked in to see Ron, Hermione, their children, Percy, Penelope, George, Angelina and their son Fred at the dinner table waiting for her. She smiled as they all cheered for her and yelled welcome home. Hugo, Rose, and Fred screaming "Auntie!" all came running over and tackled her as the grown-ups in the room laughed.

She saw her father walk into the room, pried herself loose, she ran over and hugged him, "I've missed you all so much, it's be ages!"

"Welcome home, Ginny" Arthur said giving her daughter a long hug, "I can't wait to her all about your travels."

"Yes dear we all want to hear about her trip, but she must eat and probably wants a moment to freshen up!" Molly said, coming back into the room.

"Yea, I need a shower," Ginny sighed, even through it only took her 1 day to complete long distance apparation she felt like she was be caught in a dust storm in the middle of July.

Ron snorted, "That would be a first."

Hermione playfully slapped him, "Ignore him, he is just grumpy because Hugo threw-up on his favorite Cannon's shirt."

"He wouldn't have thrown-up if he George didn't leave his puking pastries laying around," Ron shot a death look at George

George grinned widely.

Ginny laughed as she turned to leave the room, noting to grab her wand, something about the look in George's eye said she should check the shower for any tricks.

She made her way up the stairs to her room, her trunks were stacked around the room. Her room still smelled the same, and looked the same. Her Gryffindor tie hung around her bedpost and pictures of her friends scattered the walls. She could hear her family laughing and chattering downstairs as her mom clanked pots and pans in the Kitchen, The Ghoul upstairs banged loudly on the pipe and scuffled across the floor of the attic.

It was good to be home.

She opened up her trunk and pulled out a change of clothes to take with her to the bathroom. As she pulled them out a letter with the Hogwarts seal fell to the floor. Grinning she picked it up and opened the letter:

_Dear Ginevra Weasley, _

_I am pleased to congratulate you on your accomplishments and please that you have accepted our offer to become the new Charms Professor for the upcoming school year._

_The school term begins September 2__nd__, and the first week for faculty to return is August 25__th__. As a new professor you will be expected be at Hogwarts on August 1__st__. This will allow you time to establish yourself in the castle or find living arrangements in Hogsmeade. This will also provided you time to plan your curriculum, review were Professor Flitwick has left off and work closely with the staff that remains in the castle during the summer, myself included. _

_I look forward to seeing you, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at anytime. _

_Hope you are well, _

_Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

_Ps. We must also catch up over lunch once you are settled in the castle._

Ginny hadn't told anyone about her decision to teach, she knew they thought she would find a job in the ministry. It was going to be a surprise and she was looking forward to the look on their faces.

But first a shower.


End file.
